Select an organization that competes in an industry in
which you are particularly interested. Go on the Internet
and determine what type of organizational structure
this organization has. In your view, is it consistent
with the strategy that it has chosen to implement?
Why? Why not?
Choose an article from Businessweek, Fortune,
Forbes, Fast Company, or any other well-known publication
that deals with a corporation that has undergone
a significant change in its strategic direction. What are
the implications for the structure of this organization?
Go on the Internet and look up some of the public statements
or speeches of an executive in a major corporation
about a significant initiative such as entering into
a joint venture or launching a new product line. What
do you feel are the implications for making the internal
and external barriers of the firm more flexible and
permeable? Does the executive discuss processes, procedures,
integrating mechanisms, or cultural issues that
should serve this purpose? Or are other issues discussed
that enable a firm to become more boundaryless?
Look up a recent article in the publications listed in
question 2 above that addresses a firm's involvement
in outsourcing (modular organization) or in strategic
alliance or network organizations (virtual organization).
Was the firm successful or unsuccessful in this
endeavor? Why? Why not?
